


over and over again (until we get it right)

by youlostpleiad



Series: Tell Me All The Ways To Love you [2]
Category: Red White & Royal Blue - Casey McQuiston
Genre: Alex and Henry are dumb, Fluff, June Bea Nora and Pez are the real heroes here, M/M, and dumbassery, proposals! so many of them! so many
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-09
Updated: 2020-04-09
Packaged: 2021-03-01 17:01:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,860
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23560489
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/youlostpleiad/pseuds/youlostpleiad
Summary: Five times Alex and Henry almost got engaged and one time they did.
Relationships: Alex Claremont-Diaz/Henry Fox-Mountchristen-Windsor
Series: Tell Me All The Ways To Love you [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1686073
Comments: 48
Kudos: 283





	over and over again (until we get it right)

**Author's Note:**

> This is a follow up to Your Love Is Sunlight, you don't have to read that one before you read this but it would probably help understand why they're doing what they're doing!

So it goes like this, Henry abdicates. He goes through the trying process of being picked apart by his gran and the press, but he abdicates. He makes sure he can still be the one running his shelters, has them transferred over to a new foundation, one separate from the crown that he names after himself and Alex. He gets an  _ I'm proud _ from his mother, an _ I'm a little bit jealous, to be honest _ from Bea and an  _ I hope this makes you happy, you deserve to be happy _ from Phillip, and he believes him. 

It’s good. It’s more than good. They go to Shaan and Zahra’s wedding, and Shaan calls him  _ Henry _ , just that and Henry thinks that’s when it really hits him that this is about as normal as life can get for him. 

He knows how life is going to go from now on. He’s going to live a philanthropic life and devote himself to his organisation, Alex is going to pass the bar and become a lawyer, they’ll get engaged, they’ll get married, have a few children, Alex is going to be a senator, and then they’ll keep using the advantages they were both given in life to keep fighting to make other people’s lives better. And that sounds like a pretty good life to him. He is, however, painfully aware of the fact that his soon to be fiance is quite the pain in his formerly royal arse and is absolutely going to try to propose first now that the whole abdication business is behind them, and frankly Henry’s not having it. So he starts plotting. He buys a ring, a simple silver one (he’s saving gold for the wedding), it’s a bit wider than what he’d buy himself, but he can see it on Alex’s hand. On Alex’s hand, it would look beautiful. On the inside he has it inscribed with the words  **_it still won’t fit in any rooms_ ** and he thinks it’s just sappy and nostalgic enough to make Alex cry a little.

**1.**

They’re home, in New York, and really, there’s nothing special about today, but Henry keeps looking over at Alex and the way he’s completely engulfed in his books, the kitchen table is a mess, there’s paper everywhere, even a small pink streak on his forehead from two hours ago when he pressed a highlighter against his head because he forgot the cap was off. And the thing is this is Alex. This bundle of nerves and concentration, the furrow of his brow, the pursing of his lips, the way his curls are all over the place, messy and beautiful, all that is Alex, and it makes something in Henry’s chest tighten, makes his heart beat faster. 

There’s nothing special about today but Henry can make it special. So he heads for the kitchen, starts making dinner and pours his heart into it, he sets the table when Alex is done for the day and while he’s distracted Henry slips into their bedroom and grabs the ring box from his nightstand. They eat and talk and laugh and when they’re done Henry reaches for Alex’s hand and strokes it lightly and focuses on his face for a second too long just because he can.

“Okay, what are you doing?” Alex asks him with just a little bit of suspicion.

“Alex,” he starts, he takes a moment to take him the slight raise of Alex’s eyebrow and the amusement in the tilt of his smile before he reaches into his pocket and pulls out the box, “you are the love of my life and I-”

Before he gets to finish Alex pulls his hand away, covers his ears and very loudly starts going, “la la la la la la la la.”

“What are you doing?” Henry asks confused but slightly amused, he won't lie.

Alex carefully pulls his hands away from his ears and says, “We discussed this, I want to propose. I have a plan. And it’s cute. You’re not winning, I am.”

“It’s not a competition!” Henry says holding back a laugh.

“Yes, it is,” Alex sing songs.

“You’re ridiculous,” he says and grasps Henry’s hand again, “Alex Claremont-Diaz will you-”

“Oh say can you see, by the dawn’s early light-”

“You’re an idiot,” Henry says, “are you actually singing Star Spangled Banner while I’m proposing?”

And to the tune of the song, Alex says, “You’re the one who sang God Save the Queen to get rid of a boner,” he shrugs and walks away. From their bedroom he yells out, “I’m proposing to you, Wales, don’t even try me.”

Still sat on the kitchen chair Henry huffs out a laugh. Two can play at that game.

**2.**

They’re in London for Bea’s birthday. They get to stay in the same boring room Henry used to call his at Kensington and as much as Alex always thought hardly anything in that place could be considered Henry’s, really Henry’s, he has to admit that walking these halls again, being back where they finally said they loved each other makes him smile. 

The event itself is a drag. The only reason they came is that they love Bea, they both do, that and it’s an excuse to have everyone back in one place, just the six of them, and well a whole lot of fancy British people all dressed in different shades of pastel whose whole existence Alex has been blocking for the entire day. This is so unlike Bea, but it’s okay, they were promptly informed upon arrival by Pez that the night after he has plans for the group. So really all Alex has to do to have a good time is get through this. And then tomorrow, well tomorrow he has plans too.

**

The next day Alex sets his plan in motion, he tries to make it as inconspicuous as possible. He stays in bed as if it’s just another day. He doesn’t behave like anything important is happening soon. Instead, he stumbles upon a social media advert for the Victoria and Albert Museum (which may or may not be a result of targeted advertising and the approximately ten thousand times he googled the museum in the past week, but he’ll never tell). He shows it to Henry, who immediately suggests they should go there before they meet up with everyone else. And it’s exactly what Alex wanted, he’s a fucking genius, Nora should be jealous of his brain.

**

They get there and it’s nearly empty because it’s a Tuesday after 4pm, and Alex checked the busy times of the museum a million times, so he knows he has exactly one hour and forty-two minutes to propose, and he just hopes he’s not being obvious. He can’t give Henry the chance to effectively cockblock Alex out of husband the same way Alex did him. God help him this is a perfect plan and Henry is going to be so fucking swept off his damn feet he won’t be able to come up with anything half as genius as singing the goddamn national anthem to back out of the proposal. Alex is winning this. Of that he’s certain. And the feel of the ring in his pocket every time he puts his hand in there reminds him of that. 

He lets Henry guide him because the truth is Henry knows the museum. Probably better than some of the people who work here, so he gets dragged along, and he listens to Henry talk and it’s, well it’s beautiful, mesmerizing. Alex didn’t use to know he could love the way he loves Henry.

Eventually, they end up in front of the high altar, right where they were all that time ago. The museum closes in thirty minutes and Alex can’t see a single person besides the two of them.

“Do you remember the last time we were here?” Henry asks him. The smile pulling at his lips is breathtaking.

Alex nods, “Yeah, sweetheart, I do,” steps closer to Henry and throws an arm around his neck, threads his fingers through his hair, and says softly, “dancing in here with you is one of the best memories I have, actually.” He reaches into his pocket and pulls out the ring, lifting it up to where Henry can see it, it’s just a silver band because Alex knows Henry would prefer it simple. But when he was buying it, Alex couldn’t help but think of everything that led to that moment, so at the last minute, he decided he wanted the words  **_you and me and history_ ** on the inside of the ring because he wants Henry to remember. And it’s there for Henry to see whenever he wants, but not for anyone else, no, this time it really is just theirs. “When we danced here, you said it was your dream, but it kinda felt like I was getting my dream too, so I thought this was the perfect place to ask you to-”

Henry’s face breaks out in a grin and he doesn’t let Alex finish, “Yes, us dancing here. That was my dream! To dance in here with the love of my life, and look at that, dream come true! But I don’t remember a proposal in that dream, and I should know, it was mine so there’s really no need for all of this,” he presses a single kiss to Alex’s lips and it doesn’t quite work, because Henry is an  _ asshole _ and Alex’s jaw is currently on the floor.

“You’re an asshole!” He says as Henry walks away.

“Alex, love, I know this is just a museum but you  _ are _ stood in front of an altar, have some respect,” Henry has the biggest smile Alex has ever seen on his face as he heads out. 

“Motherfucker,” Alex mutters and in the distance, he can hear Henry laugh. 

**3.**

It’s summer and they’re in Mexico City because Alex kept saying he wanted to share that part of his life with Henry, so for his birthday Henry booked them a holiday that they could enjoy when Alex wasn’t stressed with Law School. Truthfully, Henry thinks he just wants a photo with the giant mural of his face someone painted after the emails got leaked. Which is fair, Alex has a very nice face and Henry can see why one would like to have a photo with a giant version of it, even if one can see the real thing in the mirror every day. In any case, they’re only there for a weekend, and it consists, partly, of Alex finding places to eat, devouring a plate and promptly telling Henry some variation of  _ your country could never _ , with a big smile, and Henry would be mad, but he can’t look at that kind of blinding, beautiful smile and not smile with Alex, well that and, Alex isn’t exactly wrong. They go to Frida Khalo’s museum, mostly because June has never been there and Alex is a dick who insisted on sending her a million photos to make her jealous. They go to a Folk Art Museum and Alex spends the entire time talking about the cultural significance of the pieces as if they don’t all have a little plaque explaining it anyway. Henry has never loved him more. On their second and last night there they go for a walk at Chapultepec and Alex makes Henry promise to come back one day for a longer holiday. Henry thinks that maybe they can come back and find a way to hold their wedding at the  Metropolitan Cathedral because no, their love for each other doesn’t fit in any rooms, but that’s one room large enough to hold a considerable amount of it for a however long a non-televised wedding between a lawyer and a youth shelter director attended by no more than 20, maybe 30 people would take.

Alex’s voice pulls him out of the daydream, “What are you thinking about?”

Henry decides it’s now or never. He takes Alex’s left hand in his right and finds the ring with his left, “I was thinking, we’re in a beautiful city, and it’s a beautiful night, and you look beautiful, breathtaking,” he leans in and pressed a single kiss to Alex’s lips, “and I was thinking this is the perfect place to ask you to marry me.”

Alex’s face is taken over by a smile. Not a sweet one. Not the kind you have on when the love of your life has just asked you to marry him. Henry’s in trouble. Alex simply smiles on and says, “¿Qué?”

“Oh, Christ’s sake.”

“Lo siento pero no comprendo.”

“Alex, come on, please,” Henry has resorted to pouting and letting out his words in what’s almost a whine.

“Perdón pero ya le dije que no comprendo,” Alex stands up and starts walking away. When he notices a woman eyeing them he shrugs and tells her, “Gringos,” to which she makes an assenting noise.

Still standing there watching Alex start the walk back to their hotel Henry calls out, “I’m British! You’re the gringo in this relationship!”

**4.**

It’s November, the last proposal was about four and a half months ago, and Alex has been trying to think of how to one-up Henry ever since. Fucking Mexico City. He should have known. It’s fine, he has time to turn this around. He will successfully propose to Henry, he will. He’s spontaneous, he’s romantic, he can do it. The only reason he can’t have an idea right now is that he’s busy with his tie. You try having creative ideas about how to so completely sweep the love of your life off his feet, how to romance him so fucking much he has no choice but o marry you, while you attempt a windsor knot. You can’t. Because ties are bottomless dry wells of, well of nothing that’s the point! Actually fuck this tie. He looks better without it. He can pop open the first button. He’ll look hot. Maybe that’s the answer, just getting Henry hot and bothered beyond comprehension and then stop unless he agrees to marry Alex. Wait, no. Alex can’t tell that story to his future kids. He’s mere months away from finishing Law School, he can figure out a proposal, right?

**

He makes it to the Brooklyn shelter an hour later and Henry is waiting for him outside, beautiful and tall and just so, so Henry. He pulls Alex into his arms and kisses him hard, right there on the sidewalk. 

“Sorry about that,” Henry says when he sees what Alex can only guess is a stunned look on his face, “I am very stressed,” he says and slumps into the crook of Alex’s neck.

“Baby, look at me,” he waits until he sees Henry’s eyes meet his, “That’s normal. It’s a fundraiser. It’s important. And I know you’re extra worried because some of the older kids are going to be here tonight, so don’t apologize. You have every right to feel the way you do, okay?”

“Okay,” Henry says, and it’s barely above a whisper. “Okay,” he says in a steadier voice, “I don’t know what I’d do without you. I love you,” and then he kisses Alex again. Softer this time.

**

The whole night goes by in a blur, but here’s what Alex remembers: it’s a room full of people who care, not millionaires who want a tax break, or an article about how philanthropic they are, but just regular people who have, in one way or another, been in situations that are exactly the same as all the kids here. He hears one of them talk about how even though they don’t live here, sometimes they find that this is the only place where they can come to just be, to not worry. How it’s the only place they felt supported to pick up old and new hobbies that made them happy, and next to him Alex can see Henry tear up. One girl tells the room the story of how she came out to her family and they kicked her out, but then she found this shelter. When she starts getting choked up she finds Henry in the room and Alex turns to him just in time to catch him mouthing  _ you’re doing amazing _ at her and smiling to reassure her. Henry gets every one of the 100 or so people in the room to agree to having a little donation box on all of their businesses.

He is in awe. Henry is amazing. Alex loves him so much he finds it hard not to scream it. So when Henry makes way for his office, Alex follows him.  _ When’s the next proposal _ , Alex was asking earlier?  _ Now. Right now. _ Even if he has no plan. Even if he has no ring. 

He finds Henry leaning on the edge of his desk, smiling like he’s just taking in the moment. He knocks lightly on the door to get his attention and then smiles at the soft smile Henry is carrying.

“That was amazing,” Alex tells him, “You’re amazing.”

“I’m very happy,” Henry says, and the smile on his face is proof.

Alex locks the door and walks towards Henry.

Henry’s smile goes from soft to amused, “What are you doing?”

“This,” Alex sinks down to one knee in front of Henry and says, “I didn’t plan it, I didn’t even bring the ring, but I love you. My God, I love you so much, Henry-”

Before he can finish, Henry brings his hand to his chest in mock offence and says, "Alex! You simply cannot give me a blowjob in here, it's indecent. The children, Alex, think of the children," then he smiles something less soft, less amused, more mischievous. He walks to the door and unlocks it. On his way out he turns to Alex, who’s still kneeling on the floor, and says, “I am a man of honour!”

As he watches Henry walk out Alex's brain catches up with him and he says, "We had sex in a closet in Wimbledon what do you mean it's indecent?" 

These goddamn proposals are going to kill him.

**5.**

Alex has spent the last few months either stressing about taking the bar exam or stressing about getting his results back. He submitted his application as soon as he woke up on November first and then proceeded to spend every day until the exam buried in books. And once he took it, he spent ten weeks wallowing in the pain of not knowing. So when the day Alex opened The New York State Board of Law Examiners website on the February 2023 Bar Exam Pass List page, clicked the C to D last names page and scrolled through it to find CLAREMONT-DIAZ, ALEXANDER GABRIEL, finally came Henry did two things. One, he bought plane tickets to Paris. Two, he started plotting.

**

This time don’t spend all of their time together holed up in a hotel room. This time they behave like annoying tourists, they go to the Eiffel Tower and Henry asks someone to take a photo of them kissing by it and pretends not to notice the way Alex practically swoons when he hears him speaking french. They go to the Arc de Triomphe and spend the whole time they’re there competing to see which of them knows more random facts about it because they’re nerds and that’s okay. They go to the Louvre, and every little patisserie they can find and they finally go to the fancy cheese shop Henry told Alex about last time they were here and it’s perfect. 

Henry takes him a walk along the Seine one night, and they sit talking and kissing and watching the Eiffel Tower light up and reflect on the water. Henry is nervous, he’s so incredibly nervous, he keeps slipping his hand into his coat pocket and feeling the ring box because he knows, he just knows that this is it, he can feel it. 

When he’s about to pull the box from his pocket Alex grabs his face and kisses him, hard and deep and tells him, "Henry, I love you, but if you propose to me in Paris, by the Seine, under the moonlight, like a goddamn prince, I will jump into the river and swim back to America. Besides, you renounced the monarchy, you can’t go around behaving like a fairytale prince, sweetheart, what would people say?" 

Henry groans and buries his face in Alex’s neck, “This one was perfect. I hate you.”

“That’s fair,” Alex says, and he kisses his forehead.

**+1**

June calls Henry one day while he’s at the shelter and as soon as he picks up she tells him, “Why are y’all so fucking dumb?”

“Hi June,” he says with a laugh, “what’s this about exactly?”

“I was speaking to my idiot brother and he started telling me about how you wanted to propose to him in Paris like some kind of Prince fucking Charming, and he stopped you. And when I told him he’s absolutely insane, completely and decidedly bat shit crazy, he said ‘chill, Bug, it was the third time he tried and failed, I’ve done twice too’ which brings me back to the original point, why are y’all so fucking dumb?”

Henry takes a second to think about to logically explain what they’ve been doing and he can’t come up with a single thing, “When you put it like that it does sound rather ridiculous, doesn’t it?”

He hears her take a deep breath before she speaks, “Listen, His Royal Idiocy, I know you and Alex are proud morosexuals,” Henry bites his tongue to keep from laughing, “but I’ve known about this for approximately 60 minutes and it’s giving me a fucking ulcer. If I had known about it this whole time I would have been dead by now.”

Henry tries to tell her it's not that bad, that it makes sense when she takes into account the way they are, but he can only get  _ it's not that bad _ out before June is telling him, "This has been going on for two years! Shut up," and he does.

"June, I do realise it's strange. And if I'm being honest I would actually like to just get engaged but I am resolutely not folding first. Unless he completely sweeps me off my feet, which I did in Paris by the way, he just caught me fiddling with the ring box and clipped my wings before I even started flying." 

"You're a goddamned idiot. And so is my brother." 

Henry laughs, she certainly has a point there, "So did you just call to yell at me?" He is met with silence, "Rightfully yell at me, sorry." 

"Well, actually, I called because I had an idea." 

That has him sitting up straight in his chair, "Do carry on." 

"The lake house." 

And that has his heart beating faster inside his chest. It's where Alex wanted to tell him he loved him. And yes they've been back since, they've said  _ I love you  _ so many times the walls are coated in it, it's burrowed into the ground and in every flower that blooms from it. And still, Henry would like to give it one more good memory,  _ the  _ good memory because, well he just worries Alex's brain takes him back to that night, to him running away whenever he thinks of the lake house but this, this would make it better, "I'm listening." 

"Buckle up, Buttercup," she says and then Henry listens, and he was wrong before this,  _ this  _ is the one.

When she’s done speaking Henry asks, “Why are you helping me with this and not Alex?”

“He’s my brother, I am allowed to want him to lose,” and well, he supposes that’s fair enough.

**

**Super 6 minus 2**

**_June_ **

I spoke to Henry

He’s onboard and oblivious

**_Pez_ **

You’re amazing

**_Nora_ **

Pez not now 💕💕

**_Bea_ **

Amazing job Catalina

**_June_ **

BEATRICE DO NOT

**_Bea_ **

😘

Right, to who shall we bestow upon the honour of calling and fooling Alex?

**_Nora_ **

Pez, I volunteer you as tribute

**_Pez_ **

I graciously accept this honour and I assure you I will bamboozle him like he’s never been bamboozled before

**_June_ **

Y’all are weird

**

They’re at the lake house. Alex is more excited than he has been in months. The thing is, no, it’s not his plan, but when Pez told him, Alex knew. He just knew, it was perfect, and it’s tonight and everything is right with the universe because he is absolutely and undeniably going to sweep Henry off his feet and he’ll have no choice but to accept his proposal because this one is perfect, this one is them, and Alex is going to win, both this dumb game and a husband, and life is fucking good!

They have the house just for the 6 of them tonight, Oscar is coming but only tomorrow, and Alex can’t believe he got all their friends to help with this, Henry won’t even know what hit him. 

They’re settled and Alex is in charge of food and Henry hasn’t left his side the whole time. Right now he’s pressed against Alex’s back, wrapping his arms around him and setting his chin on top of his head, and it’s nice, Alex could do this forever. He  _ is _ going to do this forever.

“You look very happy today,” Henry tells him from the top of his head.

Alex fights back a smile and tells him, “I missed Texas,” which is technically not a lie.

Henry sighs and presses a kiss to his hair, “Yes, I quite like it here,” Alex can almost hear the smile in his voice.

**

After they’ve had dinner they sit outside just talking, his head on Henry’s shoulder. Henry asks June if she brought her guitar, and Alex says he was thinking about the exact same thing. When June returns outside she’s got hers and Bea’s guitars with her and they sit playing together. It’s a mess because everyone insists on requesting songs that they only half know, Nora keeps trying to sing and her voice really isn’t the best for it. At one point Bea starts playing Don’t Stop Me Now, Alex looks up to find Henry blushing and presses a kiss against his cheek.

After about an hour June announces she has an idea, and she leans over to whisper in Bea’s ear with far too much flourish. Bea smiles and says, “Yes, I can do that.”

June turns to Pez and says, “Think you can lend us that pretty voice of yours?” and he nods. 

Alex’s heart is beating fast in his chest because he knows what comes next. Bea and June start playing the first chords of Your Song, and he feels Henry stiffen and then relax next to him. Pez starts singing it and it’s beautiful. Alex let’s himself enjoy it until just before they reach the chorus, when he finds Nora looking at the two of them and she nods.

He reaches into his pocket and pulls out the ring he’s been keeping there for the whole day, and when he turns to face Henry he finds him holding a ring too. And  _ oh. _

“Oh,” he’s smiling. And Henry’s smiling. But then his brain catches up to him and he turns to Nora, “What the fuck? You tricked us!”

Bea and June snort and Nora flat out cackles before she says, “Yes we did. You’re both idiots, and if we hadn’t done this it would never get done.”

“She’s not wrong,” Henry says.

“No, I am not. Now enjoy the serenade, and do it.”

He turns back to Henry and hears him say, “Shall we do it together?” and he nods.

So they count to three, and say  _ will you marry me?  _ Together, the way it was probably meant to be all along. Henry leans in and kisses him, and maybe they’re both crying a little. 

They trade rings, and he cries harder when he sees the inscription, but it’s okay because Henry is crying at his too. He’s the one reaching for a kiss this time, and when they’re done Bea and June are playing the last few notes of the song. He presses his forehead against Henry’s chest. He can hear his heartbeat, it’s just as fast as his own. He feels Henry reach for the back of his neck and play with his curls. 

When he sits up straight Henry is smiling, “I love you,” he tells him. And Henry says it back. And then everyone is standing up and smothering them with  _ I love yous  _ and  _ I’m so happy for you both _ , and hugs, kisses and tears. 

So it goes like this, they're idiots. And they'd never get anything done without their friends. But they're also in love and engaged. And precisely because they're such idiots they got to it together, the same way they've been doing most things for a while, and it seems, the way they'll be doing things forever.

**Author's Note:**

> For some context, YLIS takes place in 2021 and this one takes place from 2021 to 2023 (proposal 1 in late 2021, proposals 2, 3 and 4 in 2022 and proposals 5 and 6 in 2023)  
> Also, the spanish sentences are "what?", "I'm sorry but I don't understand" and "I'm sorry but I've already told you I don't understand"


End file.
